Soft
by TechnoGryffin
Summary: Callie starts to wonder if the whole hospital thinks that she and her field are soft. Arizona has to calm her fears.


After 8x7 I started to think about how people saw Callie's field. Owen and even Teddy didn't act like they had a ton of respect for it. So I put my fic cap on and this is what came out. I hope you enjoy it. :)

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><p>Callie Torres had never thought of herself as a weak person. She was strong academically, strong physically, and her skills as a doctor were, in a word, strong. She had always been told by her grandmother, when she complained of being bigger than some of the other girls in her class, that she wasn't fat or big, but that she was strong. But lying in bed next to her wife, to whomshe just finished making love, she wondered if maybe she wasn't so strong in the one area she hadn't questioned in a long time.<p>

"Do you think Orthopedics is a soft surgical field?" Callie broke the quite of the moment.

Arizona turned her head to look at Callie, not sure she had heard her correctly. "This is what you want to talk about after we've had sex?" She and Callie never made it very long after sex before they ended up cuddling and then falling asleep. Being surgeons and mothers meant that if they had the ability to sleep, they were going to take it.

"Do you think Ortho is soft?" Callie asked Arizona again, sitting up a little bit to look down at her. She didn't want to give Arizona room to turn the question, so she made it as blunt as she could.

"Calliope, you are the best orthopedic surgeon in the hospital. Of course I don't think you are soft." Arizona knew that she wasn't answering the question as Callie gave it. But she wasn't sure what Callie wanted to hear.

"So you do think I'm great at a soft field. Great." Callie climbed out of their bed, pulling on her underwear and then a t-shirt. "Why does everyone think that ortho is so easy or so unimportant? Owen dismissed me from a trauma this morning when I was trying to do my job and then he barely gave me the supplies I needed to fix the guys hand. I get no support for my research or my department. And it is so my department because the only thing Chang does is play golf and sign the forms I fill out for him. And Teddy, even Teddy, tried to kick me out of an OR today in the middle of my surgery."

Arizona had seen Callie rant like this before and it never failed to amaze her that someone could rant that quickly. The only thing that surprised her was that Callie didn't switch to Spanish in the middle of the rant like she was prone to do. "Calliope, honey. Sit down. This isn't a contest. Ortho isn't like the kid who was picked last for dodgeball." Arizona knew that trying to calm down Callie could just as easily backfire on her.

"That's bull, Arizona, and you know it. Have you ever had to fight for funding when you needed it? Has Derek or Teddy ever had to fight tooth and nail to get a piece of vital equipment replaced? A piece that is used everyday, but is nearly falling apart? Have you ever been told you had to wait when you walked into an OR or that you needed to clear out?" Callie wasn't really mad at Arizona. She knew that Arizona was one of the few doctors who had never pushed Ortho out of the way on a case. But she was the one in the room right now, so she was the one who was going to get the wrath.

"No, I haven't." Arizona knew that Callie had to fight harder for what she got, as a woman, as a minority, and as an ortho surgeon. "Come here, please?" She kept her voice soft while she held her hand out, trying to calm her wife down before she had a panic attack or went and broke someone's arm at the hospital.

Callie huffed, but in the end took Arizona's outstretched hand, sitting next to her on the bed. "I don't want people to think ortho is soft. It's not." She wiped at her eyes, really hoping she could keep the tears at bay. The last thing that she wanted was to start crying.

"No, it's not." Arizona lifted one of Callie's hands to her lips, kissing each of her fingers one by one. "Your fingers and hands and arms and shoulders are strong because everyday you walk into that hospital and push and pull on people's bodies. You give people second chances. You rebuild knees that haven't bent right in years. You give people new hips so they can run around after their grandkids and be present in their lives. You give kids new necks so they can live a good life. You are an artist in the OR and every time I get to work with you, I am in awe of what you can make happen." She placed a kiss on Callie's wrist before looking her in the eyes. "I do not think ortho is soft or that you are a soft doctor for picking it. I think that you are helping people live the best life that they can. You are great."

If Callie hadn't already put a ring on her finger she might have proposed to Arizona after her speech.

Pulling Arizona deeper in her arms, all she could do was weakly nuzzle her neck. "Thank you for dealing with my crazy tonight." She muttered against Arizona's neck. "I need someone who can deal with my crazy now and then."

"That should have been in our wedding vows. 'I promise to be sane on the days that you're crazy.'" Arizona wrapped her arm around Callie's neck, glad she was able to defuse the bomb before they got into a blow out fight over something they didn't need to fight about. "I promise I will always be here to clean up your crazy. I love you, Calliope."

Callie leaned down, twisting her neck, and kissed Arizona. "I promise to clean up your crazy, too. Even if I have to deal with butterflies and glitter while doing it. I love you, too." Callie planted another kiss on Arizona's cheek before detangling their bodies for a moment and tossing her shirt and underwear on the floor. Tonight was a skin on skin while sleeping kind of night.

Arizona laid back down, glad to have Callie's shoulder back as her pillow. She had never really liked being held after sex until Callie. Those strong arms made her feel safe, protected. "Good night, sweetheart." She whispered into the darkened room. Soon the only sounds coming from the room were two soft snores.


End file.
